Sure, the commercial aspects of the season suck, but to paraphrase Transmet, isn't this the world we chose? I don't spend a lot, but I do like giving gifts, and like to think I'd do so even without the constant badgering of the marketing men. For me, christmas (or whatever you choose to call it) is a good opportunity to eat, drink, be merry, and generally rage against the winter darkness with the people that matter most to me. Hopefully, people will still be doing that long after we've forgotten about both jesus, santa, and shopping malls.

F. David Swallow - I too dread this season MORE now that I work retail and get forced to listen to the music of xmas. And yes, it is mostly that pop shit. BIng Crosby I can deal with, but Josh fucking Groban? I don't celebrate the holiday now that my wife and I are 3000 miles from family, but if I were to ask for anything it would be Mr. Groban's severed head. And his severed arms, so I could use them to beat all those other pop christmas singers to death.

Me and my best ate always do our best to just be good friends at christmas to everyone we know. Since neither of us are that close to our families, we get in three different joints of meat, a bunch of veg, and start cooking (and drinking) pretty early in the morning, then at around 2ish open our doors to all our friends who have nowhere else to go or just want to escape their families.

Last year we did a Kein Smith film fest and drinking game, then on to the evil dead trilogy followed by a Romero triple bill. After 15 hours plus drinking and filling myself full of food, I fell asleep on the sofa and woke up in my front room an hour before the pubs opened with twelve other people who I don't live with.

For me at least, i always have fond memories of christmas being a time when the relatives you only see once a year, sometimes a good thing too, pop up and eat everthing in sight and argue.We didn't have a lot as kids, but my parents made sure we always had a tree up, some presents and those are fond memories for me.

Having a child, its about making her happy with things she digs, the pagan/religious aspects hold jno meaning for me and i would guess for most americans its the same, mostly a time of family and food, gifts and making fun of relatives.Im sure people feel some pressuer from the cunsumerism aspect of it all, but hey only spend what you can afford too and not anything beyond that will put you in a bind.

Christmas is going to be awful this year. I'm really starting to dread it actually. My one good friend in town is moving to England on Tuesday to get married and I'll know next to no one in town when he's gone. I think I'll invite over the guy who lives in his car.

I don't even get xmas music at my retail hell and still it sucks. It's a mad house, it takes me 3 times as long to get from one end of the store to the other and people ask stupid questions with a much higher frequency. I stare at them and tell them if they don't know the name of the book they're looking for I can do nothing to help them.